Friday, October 31, 2014

In honor of all things spooky, we've been running a feature called 'Eyes In The Night' over on our facebook page. So far, we've seen raccoon, deer, opossum, bobcat, hare, great horned owls, skunk, great crowned night herons, and bullfrogs. We've watched them forage, hunt, eat, and very occasionally interact with one another under IR light, which they can't see. It's fascinating to see just how many animals are busy after dark!

Animals can be classified as nocturnal (primarily active at night), diurnal (primarily active during the day), cathemeral (sporadically active during the day or night), and crepescular (primarily active at dawn and dusk). Whether nocturnal, cathemeral, or crepescular, animals that are active under low-light conditions may have bigger eyes and ears, darker colors, more distinct vocalizations, and quieter movements than their strictly diurnal counterparts.

Seeing

Opossum at Eaglecrest

Why do the animals and birds we watch after dark have such large glowing eyes? Because their eyes:

Tend to be larger and more protruding than those of diurnal or daytime animals.

Often have pupils that open more widely than those of diurnal animals.

Often have slit rather than round pupils. Slit pupils are more efficient at opening and closing quickly.

Usually have more rods than cones. Rods work better in low light, detecting motion and basic visual information, while cones work better in bright light, registering detail and detecting color. Some nocturnal animals have no cones at all.

May have a special light gathering structure called a tapetum, which amplifies the amount of light that reaches the retina. The tapetum reflects light that has already passed through the retina back through the retina a second time, giving it another chance to strike the light-sensitive rods. The animals we watch can't see IR light, but their widely dilated eyes certainly reflect it!

Hearing

Deer are crepuscular, or active at dawn and dusk.Their large, moveable pinna give them excellentdirectional hearing.

Why do the animals we watch after dark spend so much time listening? Many nocturnal animals rely on their hearing as much or more than their vision. How are their ears different from those of diurnal animals? They might have:

Enlarged pinnae (the outer part of the ear), facial disks, or other features that help them gather and condense sound.

Directional location. Think of ears as a microphone. In some animals (bobcats, for example), pinnae can be moved to funnel sound into the inner ear, helping localize the source of sound. Other animals, like owls, have offset ears that provide a precise x/y prey point based on a sound’s location.

Inner ear structures that maximize high frequency sounds (like mice rustling in the leaves). This might include denser, shorter auditory hairs, and denser auditory nerves. All the better to hear you with, my dear!

Ultrasonic hearing. Bats are famous for echolocation, but some moths and nocturnal butterflies have ultrasound-sensitive ears on their wings to help them escape.

Smelling

Opossum flehvening at Eaglecrest

Why do the animals we watch spend so much time smelling things? In a low to no-light world, scent conveys important information about potential mates, rivals, predators, and dinner. Nocturnal animals:

Often have a larger olfactory epithelium, which improves their sense of smell. The sense of smell is most highly developed in nocturnal mammals, although some nocturnal birds also have a sense of smell. An improved sense of smell helps nocturnal animals find food and avoid becoming dinner under low-light to no-light conditions.

Often communicate via scent marking and smell. Scents intimidate rivals, attract mates, convey information about health, and provide information about numbers and types of animals in any given place.

Touching
Nocturnal animals are very sensitive to touch. Many of them have special adaptations to help maximize touch in low-light or no-light situations, including:

Vibrissae, or whiskers that serve as tactile organs. While many animals have vibrissae, they tend to be more prominent on nocturnal animals or animals that hunt in low light. Vibrissae may be found on an animal’s face, forelegs, or feet.

Sensory maps that maximize the input from vibrissae, antennae, and other tactile sensors. A study by biologist Dennis O’Leary found that a mouse’s sensory map is dominated by clusters of neurons that process whisker signals. A cluster for one whisker is bigger that the cluster of neurons dedicated to the mouse’s entire foot.

A higher percentage of the cerebral cortex dedicated to touch. For example, almost two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in a raccoon's brain is specialized to interpret touch.

In a dark world, special adaptations help animals find food and mates, avoid predators, and defend their territories. I am grateful to have a chance to see them, spooky or not! Every time I step outdoors after dark now, I think about all of the animals that might be active around me.Did you know...
While we don’t understand all of the ways touch works, image maps called cortical homunculi help map tactility. Check it out:

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

When will Mom and Dad work on the nest? When will Mom and Dad mate? Are the eagles in Florida going to lay eggs early? "What's going on?!" everyone seems to be wondering.

Mom and Dad are on Eagle Time, which makes their behavior a little harder to pin down by our own clock! Still, their past behavior provides some clues. We should see work on the nest beginning in October and accelerating through the end of the year. In January, the eagles should move deeper into courtship. In addition to nest-building, we should see pair perching, vocalizations, bill stroking and pecking, and some footing or body stroking. Towards mid-to-late January, the eagles should begin bringing soft nesting material such as grasses, corn husks, and corn stalks in to line the nest bowl. Dad will begin sharing food (sometimes reluctantly), and physical contact will accelerate with even more touching, footing, and beak kissing. Mating will most likely begin in late January or early February, followed by egg-laying in late February or early March,

The US Fish and Wildlife Service's Bald Eagle Management Plan has a chronology for nesting activities in various parts of the United States.

Northern US. Includes Decorah, Fort St. Vrain, MN Bound

Southeastern US. Includes Florida Eagle cams, Berry College

As the chart clearly shows, the bald eagles in the Southeastern US are running on SEET (Southeastern Eagle Time) when compared to bald eagles in the northern US. However, eagles in both regions are right on time for their behaviors. In Iowa, Colorado, and along the Mississippi river in Eagle Valley, eagles are beginning to visit and work on nests.

The eagles in Eagle Valley haven't been seen in the nest lately, but they can sometimes be heard vocalizing. This area is a hot spot for migrating and overwintering eagles, and it's a wonderful place to hear birds even when they aren't on camera: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eaglevalley

Welcome to RRP's Blog!

Established in 1988, the non-profit Raptor Resource Project specializes in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. We create, improve, and directly maintain nests and nest sites, provide training in nest site creation and management, and develop innovations in nest site management and viewing that bring people closer to the natural world. Our mission is to preserve and strengthen raptor populations, expand participation in raptor preservation, and help foster the next generation of preservationists.